A common continuous plating system comprises an elongated plating chamber/cell and a movement mechanism designed to move parts along the length of the cell while the parts are being plated. The chamber is sufficiently long so that the plating of a part which enters the chamber at one end and exits at the other can be completed by the time the part traverses the length of the chamber.
Referring to FIG. 1A, previously known plating systems such as the MP 300 available from Technic Inc. utilize vertical solution spargers 11 to introduce plating solution 80 into the plating compartment 12 and to direct the incoming solution 80 towards the parts 90 being plated. Known systems also use electrically insulating shields 13 to manipulate the flow of current between the cathode/part 90 and one or more anode baskets 14. As shown in FIG. 1, the distance D1 between the shields 13 and the part being plated 90 is sufficiently great so as to allow the part 90 to be moved between vertical spargers 11 which are placed between the part 90 and the shields 13. Systems similar to those of FIG. 1 are typically used to plate a single edge 91 of a printed circuit board 90 with the edge being plated 91 being submerged in the plating solution 80 and the opposite edge 92 being positioned out of the plating solution 80. Systems similar to those of FIG. 1 typically comprise an inner cell 15 used for plating, an outer cell 16 for solution return, one or more fluid inlets 15A and one or more fluid outlets 16A. Fluid typically enters inner cell 15 via fluid inlet 15A, flows out of inner cell 15 and into outer cell 16, and then flows out of out cell 16 via fluid outlet 16A.
Unfortunately, whether previously recognized or not, systems similar to those of FIG. 1 do not always provide optimum metal distribution over a work piece. As such, there is a need for plating systems having improved metal distribution.